Decentralized electronic transfer systems are created to circumvent the necessity and avoid the costs of having a central organism checking and validating each transfer. Central electronic transfer systems rely on the combination of identification and authentication to the central organism of a user to validate a transfer request made by the user. Decentralized electronic transfer systems rely on the combination of identification and publication to validate a transfer request. Thereby the public will be able to see all transfers, they are published, and check the correctness of thereof. This form of social control, combined with mechanisms to reject incorrect published transfers, form the backbone of the decentralized electronic transfer system.
A drawback of the decentralized electronic transfer system is the risk of losing an unsecure repository, and consequently losing all transfers made to this unsecure repository. Solutions have been provided in securing repositories thereby keeping them safe from theft and loss. This however is a drawback for the usability of decentralized electronic transfer systems as the bar to use the secure repository is significantly raised.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for use in a decentralized electronic transfer system that solves at least one of the above-mentioned drawbacks.